1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates in general to an apparatus for accurately positioning and stabilizing a work piece in relation to a working tool, and more particularly to a miter guide for table saws or other cutting or shaping tools, such as those used in woodworking.
2. Description of the Related Art
As is well known in the art, miter boxes are utilized for making angled saw cuts in wooden boards and other workpieces. Miter boxes are well known and well developed in the prior art. The prior art discloses constructions which range from the very simple, including a true slotted box construction from which the name derives, to the very complex including sophisticated locating, alignment and clamping devices.
A typical illustration of the problem involved in sawing members with an accurate cut on the end which is sometimes referred to as mitering, involves the installation of base mold and ceiling mold which are the decorative strips of wood running along the junction between the floor and the wall or the wall and the ceiling. Front mitering is where the corner of the wall sticks out into the room whereas back mitering involves the junction of the recessed corner of the wall adjacent the next wall and the ceiling. Mitering is a sometimes tedious process involving careful measurements and very accurate sawing and is seldom accomplished in a very expert manner except by highly paid cabinet makers and craftsmen and the mistakes sometimes result in the loss of significant lengths of expensive mold. One method is done with a coping saw and a mitering saw and is tedious and time consuming. For this reason, some front and back mitering is done in basically a very poor manner and the mistakes are covered by putty, plastic wood and caulking material. However, due to the changes in color and discoloration which occur from painting or staining the caulking material is often apparent and the poor job is obvious upon inspection. It is very difficult for an ordinary amateur homeowner or the like to acquire the necessary expertise to perform accurate mitering even with the best of mitering equipment.
It is possible to buy, rent or borrow expensive and fine mitering equipment but the equipment alone with not cause a proper job. One reason is that the use of a miter box presents the problem of properly positioning a board to be cut at an acute vertical angle from the horizontal miter box table when it is desired to make a compound angular cut. For example, when making a 45 degree, mitered saw cut in pieces of cove molding to be joined in the corner of a room, the molding piece must be positioned in the miter box at the same angle with respect to the horizontal table and vertical backstop that the molding will assume when affixed to the wall and ceiling.
One attempt to overcome the above-noted drawbacks of the prior art is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,560,273, which describes an apparatus for supporting a board on a conventional miter box in an acute vertical angular position with respect to the horizontal miter box table and the vertical backstop wall includes a plurality of hole pairs formed in the surface of the miter box table, each of which hole pairs lies on a line parallel to the backstop wall. A board stop having a linear abutment surface includes a pair of downwardly depending legs which are sized and spaced to be received in one of the hole pairs in a manner to position to abutment surface parallel to the lines and to the backstop wall. Each of the holes pairs is located at a predetermined distance from the backstop wall to permit the board, when positioned with one edge against the abutment surface and the undersurface adjacent the edge resting on the horizontal upper supporting edge of the backstop wall, to be located in a selected acute angular position. Each of the hole pairs is offset with respect to the next adjacent hole pair in the direction of the lines which are defined by said pairs. The board stop preferably includes a pair of generally parallel abutment surfaces on opposite sides with the pair of legs disposed more closely adjacent one of said surfaces than the other. The horizontal table surface is preferably provided with identical sets of hole pairs on opposite sides of the centerline of the box, and a board stop is provided for each hole pair. In an alternate embodiment, individual one-legged board stops may be utilized instead of the elongate two-legged stop.
However, noted drawbacks of this patent is that it still does not securely hold a workpiece within its securing walls and actually requires locking bars to secure a workpiece. Also, neither of the securing walls are adjustable to accommodate a wide range of different sized workpieces. Further, the securing walls for a workpiece are dedicated to a miter saw specifically configured for and are not interchangeable with other sawing apparatus. Thus, in order for one to utilize the advantages of this device, one must purchase a miter saw incorporating the subject invention, even though the typically consumer already owns a miter saw he or she is happy and comfortable with.